Have Any of You Tried Birchbox?

I'm in the market for something new and exciting to try in the beauty department. My beauty routine is worn out, my hair is falling flat, and I'm just not feeling as young as I want to any more. A friend recently suggested that I check out Birchbox but I'm skeptical of a $10 box full of samples that supposedly do magical things. Have any of you tried it?

I would love your opinion on this...or any beauty supplies you suggest. I warn you I only leave about 10 minutes for showering and 5 for make-up application in the morning so anything too involved just won't be my thing. I need quick and easy ladies. HELP! big kiss, bekuh

I'm Guest Posting on Minnesota Girl today!

Hello my lovelies, I wanted to pop in this afternoon and let you know I'm guest posting on Minnesota Girl today. You should all pop over and see why exactly I love spring soo much. You should also stay there awhile and read what the lovely Erin has been up to, when she's not on vacation. big kiss, bekuh

What I've Been Painting Lately

My list of current paintings is not as extensive as I'd like but I have completed two paintings in the last 2 months! This is the most progress I've made artistically since graduating from college in 2010. I must admit it is a little embarrassing to share this as I was a studio art major and once completed 20 works of art in a 2 month period, eep.

You may have seen my progress on the still life painting when I shared my painter's nook a little while back. Well I've finished that project and a painting of our new pup Nellie for my husband Ryan's birthday. Ryan was thrilled to own his very first piece of original art, and I was more than happy to oblige. The images below are of the Nellie painting still in progress, but you can kinda see what it looks like.

Now I'm tasked with finding a home for these paintings in our little apartment, and with finding inspiration for many, many, more. I'd like to tackle more still life paintings and I've been working on a little series in my head; all about the mundane home life of a newlywed couple. Could this be a new venture for me? Who knows. big kiss, bekuh

Instagram Magnets DIY

Oops I kinda forgot to write the instructions down for this at first. Forgive me, haha. This DIY is so simple the pictures kind of speak for themselves! You only need a few supplies to create these Instagram magnets. I either had all of these supplies or found them at Michaels, you should be able to buy everything from your local craft/art store.

Supplies:

Magnet sheet

Cardstock

Spray Adhesive

Scissors/Utility Knife

Rule

Printer

Instagram images

To make my sheet of instagram pictures I used the contact sheet function on Photoshop and sized all of the images to be 2x2", you could also just create the sheet yourself by re-sizing all of the squares to be 2x2" and then arranging them on an 8x10" sheet of paper. Another option for those non-instagram people would be to  crop your own images into squares and then re-size them according to the instructions above.

You will want to print these out on card stock. Once your contact sheet is printed simple place the images on top of your magnet sheet to ensure correct placement. I had to cut off the bottom row to get my to fit correctly. You'll want to take the images and magnet sheet outside to use the spray adhesive, that stuff gets on everything! Spray the back of the cardstock and carefully smooth your images down on the non-magnetized side of the magnet sheet. Let this sit for a couple of minutes to ensure it's completely adhered.

Next you'll want to pull out your utility knife and ruler and cut away. I highly recommend using a cutting board or piece of cardboard to cut on, you don't want to scratch up your table, or floor, or dresser, or...whatever you craft on.

Once your little intstagram magnets are all cut out you can decorate your fridge in style. I'm loving the way this has personalized our kitchen space and I definitely think I will be making more of these in the future! I hope you enjoyed today's DIY, now go out and make yourself some.big kiss, bekuh

...That Evening

Time for the evening portion of the first official porch sit of 2012. After the sun went down, and the rain continued into the night, the crowd thinned out substantially and the gathering grew more intimate and subdued. We listened to music, talked, and just enjoyed each other's company for a little while.

I had the brilliant idea to give the couples that came to the party a little souvenir gift to take home with them, instax minis! I managed to get a picture of almost every couple that came for the feast. Funny thing is Ryan and I didn't get one of the two of us, so sad. I had killed the camera's batteries after Christmas and embarrassingly hadn't thought to buy batteries until this event. The pictures were purely a selfish need to over use the camera once again.

I really enjoyed some relaxing time with friend; forgetting for a moment that I have grown up bills and a very grown up schedule. I love weekends that remind you to be human and enjoy the moment. big kiss, bekuh

First Porch Sitting of 2012

In honor of Ryan's birthday being last week, we hosted the first official porch sit of 2012 and had a potluck BBQ at our apartment. Ryan built himself a smoker out of basically found objects; I'll save you the details but it involved two 16" flower pots, a hot plate, and wood chips. We smoked both pork and chicken and our friends brought a plethora of sides to share. 

This is going to be a two part post, part one today and part two tomorrow. First let's enjoy the sun and smoker portion of our festivities.

We set up the porch with every chair we own (almost) and set up a runner to keep Nellie on so she could enjoy the outside with us all day. Ryan woke up at 6:30am to start the smoker and at about noon Nellie and I joined him outside. She kept getting herself tied up in her extra long leash, and it made for an interesting, and annoying afternoon of freeing her from her self made traps.

I was ultra impressed with Ryan's smoking skills and he was so patient and attentive to the meat's progress all day. It took about 10 hours to cook the pork, and 5 to cook the chicken. I didn't have to do a thing all day, just paint my nails and read magazines. Well, and take pictures of course.

I tried really hard to get some good pictures of Nellie and Ryan but she was so obsessed with her leash that all I got were silly wrestling pictures and a nice picture of Ryan almost smiling. 

At around 5:30pm friends started showing up and the party really got started. We had at least five types of springy salads, homemade bread, yummy cheese, and delicious dips. There were too many kinds of beer to count and fresh lemonade to drink. It started raining and cooled off quite a bit but it didn't stop anyone from hanging out until late into the night. Tomorrow I'll share some pictures of our porch sitting after dark. I hope this inspires you to start cooking outdoors as the weather warms up. It's so much fun! big kiss, bekuh

Weekly Obsessions: Things I Wish I Was Wearing

Ok, so Weekly Obsessions is a guilty pleasure feature that won't be going anywhere people and it will always be on Sunday. Why? Because I love taking time on the weekend to share my wish lists and silly obsessive photo hoarding with you.

There has to be something wrong with me because lately all I want to do is shop. This unquenchable need to purchase hits me three times every year and without fail I never have money when the itch starts to itch. Every Spring new clothes come out that are so light, airy, welcoming, and fresh after a long hard winter and I want them all. I get hit again in August when a fresh crop of Fall/Winter clothes hit the market, and again at Christmas because I am actually going out to shop at non-thrift stores, a rarity. For some reason this spring seems to have hit me extra hard because there are so many things I am struggling to resist purchasing. Instead of hitting the "add to cart" button I'm going to share some of my obsessions with you on the bloggy blog today in hopes it will keep me out of bank withdraw remorse.

1. Yellow and floral

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I love the color yellow and I don't care who knows it; even being a pale skinned blonde-ish gal. This skirt is just perfect, the length, the pattern, the casual elegance of it all. I want to frolic in this skirt, and take naps in this skirt with lemonade and a straw hat on my head. This skirt and I could very well be best friends. Don't judge me, it was love at first sight.

2. Swedish Clogs of all kinds

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Swedish clogs are all the rage right now and not to jump on the bandwagon but I'm going to. I'm not a huge fan of the traditional clog style with heels but the sandal and sling-back styles have got me thinking I may need to add this to some kind of gift list in the future. Ugglebo clogs are half the price of Hasbeens so you can guess which one might be more likely.

3. Zara and their lady like dresses

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When I'm feeling a little lady like my favorite website to visit is Zara. The clean lines and simple color stories are so easy to dress up and dress down for all of life's occasions. This is by far my favorite dress for spring mostly because I could easily transition it into other seasons with tights, a cardi, and boots.

4. Necessary rain gear, boots

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When I first spied these coral colored beauties my jaw hit the floor with a loud thud. I have always wanted a pair of hunter boots but honestly just wasn't impressed with their color offerings. But now...I will save up to buy these, I will.

5. Lauren Moffat anything

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Lauren Moffat is a woman who can do no wrong these days, she's everywhere! I am really digging this skirt from her latest collection and I may just find this at a consignment store one day in my size. In the meantime I will have my eyes peeled for a look alike outfit to wear when there's a chilly summer day.

6. Polka dot blouses

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These precious blouses from Romwe have my heart all a flutter. At $27 a piece they're pretty reasonable, but my tiny budget just wont allow. I will have to leave them to you my dear readers to buy up and show off on your blogs. Just don't tell me about it or I'll get jealous.

7. Alphabet dress

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Asos must be doing everything right, right now because I've been drooling over every item I see on the interwebs. What girl doesn't need an alphabet dress? I would wear this with little slip on sneakers and my hair in a side braid to the movies. I should probably stop daydreaming like this.

Your Support Means So Much to Me

I have been overwhelmed by the response to my post yesterday, thank you! It is so nice to hear what you think about my blogging and that so many of you are encouraging me to post more freely. I appreciate you SO much. I look forward to the next chapter of blogging with you and April is going to be one wild month!

I thought I'd share some awesome bloggers with you, who have mentioned Secondhand Sundays through the interwebs this week. Please, oh please, check out their blogs because these are such lovely people.

Lena from Musings pointed out that my guest post about thrifting on her blog had been re-linked twice! Bianca from Goodnight Little Spoon made a shout out, and Lauren from Tastes Like Love also made a shout out to my thrifting tips.

Kate from Stripes and Polka Dots, mentioned our little Shrimp and Grits post on her Friday Links and threw out there she'd never had shrimp and grits before. Go encourage her to try it!

Danie from Pasadya also made the sweetest comments about me (all undeserved), and it warmed my heart to read. You have to check out her amazing illustration work, just gorgeous.

I was honored to be included in the sponsor highlight post this month on My Girl Thursday, I've had an awesome two month sponsorship stint with her blog and encourage all of you to consider sponsoring on "Thursday's" blog!

The lovely miss Kyla Roma makes the point to tweet about her sponsors every Friday so she's been giving me shout outs, all month long. So so nice! I just signed up for month two of sponsorship on her blog, woot woot.

I'm excited for the future and feeling inspired, watch out. big kiss, bekuh

Blog Features & My Love-Hate Relationship with Them

This is a little bit of a heady topic and I am going to try my best not to go into too much detail or make too many lists. I think that blog features are one of the most important parts of successful blogging, but it can also be one of the most difficult things to balance when you're first starting out. I'm writing this post as I go through a transition with my own blog features because I'm in a very real situation where I think my blog features are holding me back, but I also don't want to totally change all of them (yet). Confused? Let me start from the beginning.

Way back in the summer of 2011 I signed up for a blogging course online. I learned a lot about creating a successful blog and the steps one needs to take to get successful. I learned that good photos were top priority (duh), that a clear writing style was necessary, and that your blog features will tell your readers what to expect on your blog and help you define your blog image. All of this is very sound advice, but what I didn't learn was that some of these things could be pitfalls to sharing your true self with your readers.

For those of your who have read Secondhand Sundays for awhile this may not be such a huge surprise but I blog in a very controlled and scheduled way. I have features and I stick to them each week, on a very specific day, and I'm tired of it. I'm getting bored with my own blog and I apologize to you for forgetting my own goals in blogging. I want Secondhand Sundays to be a real place for readers to visit and peak into the less-than-perfect lives of us Brownings. I want this to be a place you can come find inspiration for real life living, not the over commercialized and branded life of so many bloggers. I want you to see both the really creative and almost perfectly executed projects around our house, but also the dust balls and dirty dishes. I want all of this on Secondhand Sundays because I'm tired of feeling bad about myself because other people can do it "better." We all deserve a true voice that says "I can't do it better, but I can do it my best."



I guess what I'm trying to say is that blog features are kind of like masquerade masks, they show you just enough of someone that you know they're a real person but not enough to give you the whole picture. Again, this is not a bad thing it just isn't a true picture of reality. I just want to stop blogging like it's a chore and start blogging because I like my life and want to share more with you and not less. Right this minute I'm deleting all of my blog goals for 2012 because they were silly to create in the first place, if this is going to be an organic blogging experience then my expectations need to be organic and come-as-they-may as well.

 I'm still going to blog about all the things I love like food, crafts, vintage, fashion, and home decor but I'm not going to do it in such a controlled manor. Sometimes I'm just not doing anything special in those categories. I am going to share more personal stories, more wishes and dreams, more passion. I am going to still be me. Sorry to blather on like this I just have a lot on my mind lately and instead of just waiting to share the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow with you I want to share the adventure I take to find it too. big kiss, bekuh

Ryan's 24 Birthday! Story Time

My loving husband's 24th birthday is today! 

It's hard to believe a year ago we were still just dating, and just beginning to contemplate a future life together. I shared 10 reasons why I love him last year and though I could easily come up with a 100+ more reasons why I love Ryan I've decided to spare you the ooey gooey details. Instead today I want to share a memory with you.

I first met Ryan when he was 19 years old and still living in Florida for college; he was home for winter break and we shared a meal with friends. After he left we occasionally chatted using Facebook chat (does that even still exist?) but rarely talked on the phone. I knew through a mutual friend that he had a bad case of insomnia and one summer night I decided to call him.

I was working as a waitress close to my Mom's house that summer, and most nights after long shifts I would head an hour into Roanoke to hang out with friends. Feeling the need to take a night off from everybody I decided to camp out by the lake in my parent's RV. With no power, and the sun having set hours before I had a lot of time to think. After an hour or two I felt restless and needed someone to talk to so I picked up the phone and dialed the first person that came to mind, Ryan.

As we talked I made my way to the dock and sat cross-legged at the edge looking out over the water and up towards the stars. Ryan and I talked for hours. We talked about history, and future plans, we talked about our childhoods, and we talked about the great outdoors. We shared a lot about things we loved that night and before we got off the phone we said our first "I love you." The love we expressed was not one of romance or lust, but simply friends sharing their deep appreciation for one another and the care we both felt in our hearts for the person on the other end of the line. We have said I love you every time we've left each other since that night; even when we've left a little hurt or angry. 

 It would be almost three years before our love matured into what it is today. Loving Ryan has been, and continues to be, the most natural thing in the world to me. I am grateful for those early days of friendship before butterflies, and flirtation, and first dates. And I am grateful that he is still the first person that comes to mind when I just need to talk and look up at the stars. I love you Ryan more than any words or memories. Happy birthday handsome. big kiss, bekuh

A Color-block Passport Holder DIY

Ok, so maybe the color block trend is so fifteen minutes ago, but I couldn't help myself. When I decided to make my own passport holder it seemed to cry out for a neon something-or-other and I caved so you'll just have to forgive me. Today, I'm going to show you how to make your very own passport holder for all of your world travels.

for supplies you need the following:

1 large piece of scrap leather (mine is from an interior design sample)

Your passport

Sewing machine

Utility knife

Masking tape

Paint

Paintbrushes

Ruler

Pencil

Your first step is to measure the width and length of your passport holder. Make sure that the leather is lying face down and place your passport on top as a template for sizing. Using your ruler measure a 1/4" seam allowance around each side of the passport. For the length double the width of your passport and add and an extra inch to the measurement. That extra 1" will serve as your seam allowance and fold line. To create your wrap around strap, measure a 1/4" piece that is the same as your total length plus an additional 2". Cut using your utility knife and a straight edge.

Next you will create your passport pocket and a catch all pocket for the opposite side. For the passport pocket measure the width of your passport and length and add a 14" seam allowance; cut. For the catch all pocket, measure half the width and all of the height of your passport, plus a 1/4" seam allowance; cut.

Next, place your wrap around cord underneath the edge of your passport pocket pin, and pin each pocket into place to begin sewing using a straight stitch. Start by sewing up the passport pocket side first so you can secure the wrap around strap (see image below). You'll then sew along the length of the passport holder to create a uniformed look, sewing the pockets in place on both sides.

You can trim and extra leather with your utility knife or scissors. You are now ready to add the color block design to your passport holder. Using the masking tape- tape off the sections you want to paint, making sure to cover the edges of the opposite side with masking tape to decrease bleeding potential.

You will want to paint a couple of base coats of white over the leather before painting your neon on top. I just used plain acrylic paint for this project, making sure to purchase neon paint from a craft store so the colors would really pop.

To get a good solid neon look I had to paint four coats on top of the white, it was totally worth the extra effort. You can see my finished product below, I was super happy with the results and my ugly glue covered passport shows no more. Now if I could only take the time and money to travel abroad this year, maybe this will be motivation for next year? big kiss, bekuh